It took a while, but with initiatives like the Climate Pact the snow sports industry is picking up its sustainability momentum. Joel Svedlund has been central to this development, and makes the case that the next step must be to address the fundamental business model.

Snow sports experience the pressures of climate change from several angles, being directly affected by warmer temperatures that in turn lead to shorter, less predictable seasons and loss of snow and ice cover. At the same time, supply chains, travel to ski resorts and the efforts to produce perfect snow conditions are emitters of greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn directly contribute to climate change.

Over the last two years, I have been in sustainability dialogues with snow sports companies, building collaborative action towards sustainability. It all started with a report on environmental impact from skis by the Swiss NGO Mountain Wilderness, at the same time as a group of ski brands initiated work around ski recycling with the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry, FESI. Several brands were already making individual progress but, up until this point, there was very little industry collaboration for sustainability in the sector.

Since then, we have together built a network with the main international ski and snowboard brands in the EU and US, guided by the advancing EU legislation and the industry’s own will to adapt and incorporate sustainability as a core ingredient of business.

‘We need to change… fast’

Fast forward to the Ski Industry Climate Summit in Salzburg, Austria in Fall 2023. With 150 participants from all parts of the snow sports industry, hosted in a collaboration between the Amer-owned ski giant Atomic and the NGO Protect Our Winters, it manifested the new industry approach to climate and sustainability: Open and bold discussions paired with concrete collaborative action. This was a good starting point, with the challenge of producing a roadmap towards the ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement and EU green deal.

While it was a positively overwhelming experience to see this level of commitment, there are still big questions that did not appear on the agenda. The issue of resource consumption, growth and current business models did not make a mark in Salzburg. Maybe it was enough to dive into all the technical and product-related aspects of sustainability this time. But, if we are serious, it is imperative to start looking at the way we do business as well.

Circular Business Models is a holy grail to lower resource use, keeping the products in use for longer. The second-hand market is lively during seasons. Similarly, ski, boot, and pole rental has been around for ages and is an integral part of business. However, the possibility to make specific rental equipment, which is highly serviceable, modular, and repairable for a long lifespan, has not been fully realized.

New business models

As next steps, it’s imperative that ski, boot, and pole rental starts with product design and includes very long product lifecycles where a product can be revived over and over again by changing the wear parts and “re-baking” the ski to new conditions. Rental should include protective equipment and clothing when needed, with digital condition monitoring of the protective gear and full-service wash and care for all parts that get sweaty or stained during the days in the slopes.

If the previous years have been relatively silent from the snow sports industry, I predict that the communication will intensify drastically now that the big players are on the move and have started aligning their targets with each other. We have a long journey ahead and I sincerely hope that most global industries and societies will join in so as to keep prosperous living – including deep powder skiing – a reality also 100 years from now. It is still possible!

 

Illustration: Jonna Fransson